Liquid crystal display devices are widely used as displays in portable electronic devices, e.g., cellular phones, televisions, and personal computers. It is generally known so far that the liquid crystal display device has good viewability when looked at from the front, but its viewing angle is narrow. According to one of various ideas for widening the viewing angle, a member (hereinafter referred to as a “light diffusing member”) diffusing light output from a display body, e.g., a liquid crystal panel, is disposed on the viewing side of the display body.
For example, the light diffusing member is constituted to provide not only a light diffusion characteristic with dependency on an incidence angle such that light input at an angle within a particular angle range is diffused at higher intensity than light input at an angle outside the particular angle range, but also a light diffusion angle range with dependency on an azimuth angle, thus giving the light diffusion characteristic with three-dimensional anisotropy (see PTL 1).
Even in the case of the light diffusion characteristic being given with anisotropy, however, when light blocking portions are not present in hollow spaces provided by cavities between light diffusing portions, there is a risk that contrast may be reduced due to outside light. Furthermore, when a polarizing plate is disposed on an outermost surface of the light diffusing member to suppress reflection of the outside light, a utilization rate of light may lower.